Early American Writing

1. 1600-1800 Early American Writing

2. First permanent colony established in Jamestown in 1607 • By 1733 English colonies stretched all along the Atlantic coast. • The meeting of two worlds: • Early writers described land and people • Concentrated on describing and trying to make sense out of their challenging new environment and the unfamiliar people they encountered. • Native Americans had well-established communities when Europeans arrived • People had been living in the Americas for tens of thousands of years, adapting to diverse environments, forming communities, establishing trading networks and building working cities. Historical Context

3. Writers chronicled Native American and European views of one another. • William Wood of Mass. Bay Colony wrote that Native Americans “took the first ship they saw for a walking island, the mast to be a tree, the sail white clouds.” • William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Plantation, described North America as “a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men.” Early American Writing

4. Were Wood and Bradford fair in their assessment of the landscape and population of North America? Discussion prompt

5. Native Americans • were culturally diverse (when Europeans arrived, there were more than 300 different Native American cultures in North America) • Strongly differing customs • 200 different languages spoken The Native American Experience

6. One activity was common to all Native Americans: Storytelling • Native North American cultures did not have a written language • History, legends and myths were passed from generation to generation through oral tradition The Native American Experience

7. Literary Style • Rich and varied • Creation stories are found in every Native American culture • Other forms: legendary histories tracing the migration of peoples or the deeds of great leaders, fairy tales, lyrics, chants, children’s songs, healing songs and dream visions. The Native American Experience

8. Why is preservation through oral tradition more vulnerable to loss than preservation through written works? How did the arrival of the Europeans affect the preservation of Native American literature? Discussion Prompt

9. Much of the literature did not survive after so many Native Americans fell to European diseases. • Some groups lost 90% of their people, all of whom would have played a role in preserving the traditional stories • Surviving works showed that diverse Native American groups shared common themes in their spoken literature • Reverence for nature • Worship of many gods The Native American Experience